View/Open - Scholarly Commons Home

questionnaire that was upsetting in any manner. By completion of data collection, no
calls had been made to the free call number due to concern or distress at any of the
questions.
3.16 Māori Participation in Research
The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document of New Zealand and
acknowledgement of the principles of the Treaty i.e. partnership, participation and
protection is fundamental to any research involving Māori. The Health Research
Council of New Zealand states that there is a need to increase Māori participation in
health research to reduce health disparities. Consultation is important to ensure the
research is acceptable, appropriate and outcomes contribute to improving Māori health
and wellbeing as much as possible (Health Research Council of New Zealand, 2008).
As per ADHB research guidelines, ethical approval was granted by the Māori
Research Review Committees (MRRC) prior to submitting the proposal to the Health
and Disability Ethics Committee. Participation and protection were upheld through
Māori childhood cancer survivors being offered equal opportunity to participate and
protection through the anonymous data collection process and secure storage of data. In
acknowledgement of the importance of consultation and partnership with Māori in this
survey, I met with the Māori advisory team within the Auckland District Health and
Canterbury District Health Boards. The research proposal and aims were presented and
discussed and the questionnaire was made available for review prior to the final
decision on question inclusion/ exclusion. Support was granted following both
meetings. The principal of partnership was integral to the Youth2000 and Youth’07
survey development which had a Māori advisory group established for both surveys and
Māori health researchers as co-investigators. The changes made to the Youth’07
questionnaire were minimal, which provided a level of confidence in the
appropriateness and acceptability to Māori for the advisory groups consulted, the ethics
35